1 in 4 Californian Children Have Never Seen a Dentist

Study Finds That 1 in 4 Californian Children Have Never Seen a Dentist

It seems American families are still struggling with how to afford to take children regular dental appointments according to a new study published in the journal Health Affairs .

In fact, the study, “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Dental Care for Publicly Insured Children,” revealed that nearly 25 percent of children in California age 11 and under have never seen a dentist.

The study, “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Dental Care for Publicly Insured Children,” examines barriers to dental care among California children age 11 and under, using data from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey. The study contains data on nearly 11,000 children.

Researchers Nadereh Pourat, of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, and Len Finocchio, of the California HealthCare Foundation, used data from the 2005 California Health Interview Study to determine how the dental care needs of children in California were being met.

The study also revealed that Latino and African American children with all types of insurance were less likely than Asian American and white children to have visited the dentist in the previous six months — or even in their entire lifetime.

The authors say their research did uncover that having any form of dental insurance significantly increases the odds of seeing a dentist on a regular basis. The studied showed that 54 percent of privately insured children and 27 percent of publicly insured children had seen the dentist during the previous six months, compared with 12 percent of children without dental coverage.